This invention relates generally to the field of printed document security, and, more particularly, to image data processing for the purpose of watermarking of printed images in a manner that facilitates detection of copies.
Advances in the arts of photocopying and digital image scanning and printing have made it increasingly easy to make copies of printed documents with rather high fidelity such that it is difficult to distinguish between an original printed document and a photocopy or scanned-and-printed copy of the original document. These advances have implications in regard to such secure documents as postage meter indicia, paper currency, and event and travel tickets. Therefore, it is desirable to provide secure documents with printed images that incorporate special features, sometimes referred to as “fragile watermarks”, wherein copying of the printed image results in changes of the feature in the copy relative to the original image in a manner that can be detected with a degree of reliability and convenience.